Mechanical and chemical-mechanical polishing processes (collectively, “CMP”) remove material from the surfaces of semiconductor wafers in the production of microelectronic devices and other products. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a CMP machine 10 having a platen 20, a drive assembly 26 that can rotate (as indicated by arrow F) and/or reciprocate the platen 20 (as indicated by arrow G), and a polishing pad 40 carried by the platen 20. The CMP machine 10 can also include a wafer carrier 30 for holding a semiconductor wafer 50 and an actuator assembly 36 that can rotate (as indicated by arrow J) and/or reciprocate the wafer carrier 30 (as indicated by arrow I). During polishing, the wafer carrier 30 presses the wafer 50 facedown against a polishing solution 60 on the polishing pad 40, and the platen 20 and/or the wafer carrier 30 moves to rub the wafer 50 against the polishing pad 40.
CMP polishing can normally achieve satisfactory polishing and/or planarizing results. However, one drawback with CMP polishing is that the CMP machine 10 can sometimes cause the wafers to have physical damage (e.g., delaminated surface layers, chips, etc.), defective electrical components (e.g., shorted circuitry, blown fuses, etc.), and/or other types of damage after being polished. Such damage can reduce fabrication yield and thus increase the unit cost of produced microelectronic devices. Accordingly, there is a need to reduce such damage to the polished wafers.